Recycling is vital to the United States and the global community now more than ever as the amount of waste generated is continually increasing at the same time as the world population continually increases. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. per capita municipal sold waste production has increased from 2.7 pounds per person per day in 1960 to 4.4 pounds per person per day in 1997.
The EPA considers recycling to be a great success story. Recycling diverted 64 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 1999, up from 34 million tons in 1990. Recycling provides many social and environmental benefits. Recycling reduces air and water pollution associated with land filling and incineration. Valuable energy and natural resources are saved by decreasing the need for virgin materials. In addition, there is a reduction of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. Overall, recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations, and empowers society when they are able to keep their cities clean and progress proactively on behalf of the environment.
In the U.S., recycling of materials like glass, plastic, aluminum and paper products, grew from 9.6% in 1980 to 28.2% in 1998. The agency has set a national recycling goal for 35% by the year 2005. The Integrated Waste Management Act requires governments to prepare and implement plans to reduce 50% of each states' solid waste from landfills by Jan. 4, 2004. A problem with this recycling effort is that most cities do not have recycling receptacles readily available to pedestrians in high-traffic area. As a result, many recyclable materials either end up in refuse receptacles and taken to landfills or as litter.